Fight Giants and Win! (Formerly the Athena in the Well -- Find Your Inner Trial Goddess Podcast)

Hillary Walsh -- a renowned immigration lawyer in Phoenix and owner of New Frontier Law -- and I talked on June 2, 2025 about practicing one of the hottest areas of law.   Hillary shares her powerful story of finding her purpose and surviving in a harsh system.  She also offers practical suggestions of how to prepare for the worst case scenario -- practical advice not only for immigration clients,...

OOPS!  New sound editing software has a steep learning curve.  This is a re-issue of January 22, 2025's podcast.  Apologies for the goofy editing in the original.   As for the substance -- and there's A LOT to discuss -- for all that commentators talk about immunity, few address legal immunity's nuances.  This podcast is designed to help understand a rapidly changing, tricky area of...

Being a master strategist requires a command of your practice area.  In criminal defense, understanding Brady and while it can't be fixed with a claim of "harmless error" is critical to how you plan your case -- from investigation to post-conviction.   Here, we have a brief summary of what happened in the Baldwin/Rust trial, with cameo appearances by members of my menagerie.  If you...

My former legal assistant and right-hand-man, Jeff Seward, was called for jury duty in a Washington State criminal case.   (And -- gentle warning -- there's a short deviation to discuss jury selection in the Trump criminal trial.   And a couple of swear words littered within that discussion. . .) Biggest take away -- LISTEN to the answers your jurors give you!  Ignore them at your own risk! A...

Hey, Friends!   We're back and getting down to the nitty gritty -- trials!    The best firsthand juror experience most trial lawyers will get is *maybe* sitting on a venire panel before being struck.   Often, trial lawyers do not have the ability to talk in-depth with jurors at the end of their trials, because jurors just want to go home or because court rules prohibit lawyers from contacting...

Hello!   We're back!   This episode talks about the three big lessons learned for Athenas after a year of . . . well. . . a lot: How brutal this industry can be.  The new,  developing medicine to treat brain injuries.   How the Athena Shield quadrants worked in real life this past year.   As my dear friend, Charlotte Benson, says, "Onward and Upward!" www.atgimagemgt www.joybertrand...

Athena in the Well is back!    We return with this Facebook Live event last year, during the Chauvin trial.   Which Athena Shield quadrant does witness preparation fall?   Creative Goddess.  Yep.  You read that correctly.  The Creative Goddess quadrant includes preparation, discipline, and practice.   Imagine the jury instructions, the rules of procedure, and the rules of evidence  are the framewo...

Faith Kohler is a fiercely independent, multi-faceted powerhouse. Attorney, former federal agent, Fortune 500 company alum, visual artist, and documentary film maker, Faith embodies the term “renaissance woman.”   With confidence, humility and grace, Faith tells her story (and those of others) – strategically, convincingly, and with the gift of hindsight about making purposeful, courageous choices...

How can the practice of yoga help us in the practice of law?  Andrea Griego, yoga studio owner and body work specialist shares her perspective.  First, the confidence and the humility gained by getting really good at something really hard cannot be overstated.  Next, 80% of all doctor visits are stress-related.  Your body trying to tell you something.  But most of all?  We are students of our clie...

Fat is not a feeling.   You cannot run from your fork. Embrace the suck.   Hello, friends.  These are just a few words to live by from our guest, Trish Fleischer, an Arizona-based fitness trainer specializing in transforming the bodies and health of professional women.    So here is the ironic thing:  we are all working from home, in various states of quarantine, to keep ourselves healthy.  At the...

“Warrior” – a description that has become almost cartoon-ish.   And hyper-masculine.   The women warriors we see in popular entertainment often are also fetishized for their sexiness, at the cost of their intelligence and true strength.   Lawyers are no different.  And we all know a lawyer (or two or three or a dozen), who go to battle for the sake of the argument: for bloodlust.   That was Aries...

Hello Friends, So, here is the truth. I have been extremely motivated since the shut down to use the gift of time that was bestowed on me – on us – on the world, to do work that was important and meaningful to me.  Namely, the Athena Project.     And then….   Sometime around Mother’s Day, I got a little sideways.  And I struggled to make myself sit down and write.  I just could not make myself do...

What's Your Sign??  I know.  Cheesy.  But then.....what if what you thought was your astrological sign all your life was wrong?  And how could this have happened?  Well, the long and the short of it is that it is the Earth's fault.  The Earth's axis actually.  See, it wobbles a little and over the last 2000 years that has changed our planets' position by a little over 20 degree...

Eight years ago I made a fundamental shift around how I get unstuck when faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge or circumstance in both my professional life and in my personal life.  I got out of my head and turned an intellectual exercise into a physical one and it made all the difference.  Shockingly, it also ushered in transformative change.  Allow me to introduce, Mike Traynor, one of...

What differentiates the trial lawyer who appears to effortlessly go to battle with a clear head and a sharp wit?  A woman who says what she means in the moment and not two days too late when she is alone in her car?  The key to finding courage when it seems elusive - for your clients and for yourself is firmly rooted in your value-system.  Clarity around your Non-Negotiable North Star is crucial t...

For many people, a "Tarot card reading" means a woman in flowing robes, leaning over a small table in a candlelit room, foretelling impending doom (or pure unadulterated bliss, one of the two...) But that's not really what Tarot cards are about. In fact, they're not even really meant to tell your fortune or future. It has been said that the most powerful sources of information...

Today's episode is a little outside the box.  But, let's face it, sometimes the box is a jerk.  Listen to the alternative wisdom of Deborah Garland - Ayurvedic Practitioner, Author, Yogi and Healer. Her profession is the knowledge and science of life and longevity.  Her specialty is assessing your current imbalance to help you make small, easy adjustments to achieve positive shifts in ov...

Has anyone ever told you to "just be yourself?"  Did you fight the impulse to find a vase and hurl it at said person?  Did you think to yourself: why does it all of a sudden seem impossible to "just be myself?" I admit that I have. I admit that I know my clients and my witnesses have, too. So...what are 3 things we can do -in real time- to re-train our brains to say what we kno...

Welcome to Woowoo Wednesday!  Have you ever heard of the saying, "She is her own worst enemy?” When you think about it for a second, there is nothing more self-defeating.  Because as I am sure you are aware, wherever you go, you are there.  What would happen if you could make one adjustment to overpower this soul-crushing tendency? Like most things worth doing, it is straight-forward and make...

This is an introduction to the Podcast Episode:  The Transformative Strategist: 3 Mindsets of Stand-Out Legal Strategy.  In order to help you follow along, I have created a quick reference tool to the first cornerstone to evolving into an Athena Master Strategist.  I know that you will find looking at this visual aid for just a few seconds will be a good use of your time as you move through the ep...

This episode is the cornerstone of mastering the art and science of strategy.  Follow Joy Bertrand as she guides you through the theory behind her hard won success as an internationally recognized trial architect and reveals the 3 mindsets that can help you evolve into a commanding trial strategist.  Want to make it easier to up your strategy game?  Employ this helpful illustration that bottom-lin...

Why is it that you can think of the perfect thing to say (and I mean perfect) when there is no one there to hear it?  Your reason why is bottom-lined in our Woowoo Wednesday Soundbite.  A short, concise solution to one of the most common frustrations in the legal profession: being able to think on your feet when it counts.  Discover why you do this and (only if you need it) receive 3 strategies to...

Join us each and every Wednesday, when we feature forward thinkers courageous enough to embrace a little woowoo to command the courtroom.  Today, we will discover 3 strategies (that you can do in less than 3 minutes) to combat the newest form of Trial Lawyer Anxiety:  Practicing in the Pandemic. Joy's very special guest is, Lexlee Overton. Lexlee is the founder of the legal consulting firm, M...

Welcome to Athena in the Well.  A Podcast for women trial attorneys designed to help you find your voice, take your space, and command the courtroom.  Make sure to join The Athena in the Well tribe to get resources that will make you stronger and the support of a community that will make you wiser.   www.atgimagemgt www.joybertrandlaw.com

This podcast is designed to embolden the inner Athena of women trial lawyers through the mastery of the goddess' timeless teachings. Together we will empower your master strategist, fierce independence, creative genius, and ferocious warrior.  And together we will help you find your voice, take your space, and command the courtroom. PS. Be sure to subscribe to the Athena in the Well Podcast -...